BRAHMAN MERELY THE MODE OF GOODNESS?
Recently I wrote the following mail to Dr. Satya Nārāyan Dās
about a problem I had with an 11th Canto-verse:
Dear Panditji, Rādhe Rādhe
I am studying now Śrīmad Bhāgavat 11.25.27, some problem is
there. It says faith in spiritual things like adhyātma is in sattva guna, but
what about Śrīmad Bhāgavat 1.2.11? This says that the Absolute Truth is
Brahman, Paramātma and Bhagavān, and thus all three features of the Absolute
are transcendental, not in the modes of nature. It contradicts. Kānupriya Goswāmi
says bhakti is nirguna and the addition of bhakti to sattvik jñāna makes it
nirguna but i find that hard to swallow, for jñāna, leading to Brahman, is
nirguna too, not sāttvik. No ṭīkā gives a clue. Same for Śrīmad Bhāgavat 1.2.24,
sattvam yad brahma darśanam. Śrīdhar Swāmi, Jīva Goswāmi and Viśvanāth don't
mention the point in their ṭīkās. Is Śrīmad Bhāgavat 11.25.27 (or even all of
ch.25 of the 11th canto) just a glorification of Kṛṣṇa?
Dr. Satya Nārāyan Das replied :
"I think the mistake here is to translate adhyātma as
"spiritual things". Then the last part of the verse becomes redundant
because of the words mat-sevāyām - "In My service' i.e. bhakti is also a
spiritual thing and thus already included in adhyātma. The meaning of adhyātmā
is knowing the self as different from the body, (It is actually adhyātma-śāstra
which teaches this). In Śrīmad Bhāgavat 1.2.24 sattvam yad brahma-darśanam does
not mean that sattva gives brahma-darśana by itself. Brahma-darśan is not
possible without bhakti. So all it means is that sattva is a doorway to
brahma-darśana. Through sattva one can get an idea of its existence but not the
realization. Compare it with Bhagavad-Gītā 18.20.
Jai Rādhe
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TRANSLATIONS OF ABOVE REFERENCES -
Hṛdayānanda Swāmi's translation of Śrīmad Bhāgavat 11.25.27:
"Faith directed toward spiritual life is in the mode of
goodness, faith rooted in fruitive work is in the mode of passion, faith residing
in irreligious activities is in the mode of ignorance, but faith in My
devotional service is purely transcendental."
Bhānu Swāmi's translation of the same verse -
"Faith in ātmā is in sattva, faith in prescribed karma
is in rajas, faith in irreligious activities is in tamas, but faith in my
devotional service is beyond the guṇas."
Gita Press translation -
"Faith in things spiritual is sattvic"
None of the major ācāryas - Śrīdhar Swāmī, Jīva Goswāmī,
Viśvanātha Cakravartī - explain the word adhyātmik in their commentaries.
Bhagavad Gītā 18.20
BBT translation -
"That knowledge by which one undivided spiritual nature
is seen in all living entities, though they are divided into innumerable forms,
you should understand to be in the mode of goodness."
Bhānu Swāmī's translation -
"Know that the process of knowledge is sattvic in
nature when the individual indestructible soul with individual form is seen to
exist successively in different bodies."
Viśvanāth Cakravartī's commentary on Bhagavad Gītā 18.20,
translated by Bhānu Swāmi -
This verse speaks of sāttvic process of knowing. Seeing one
soul (ekaṁ bhāvam), with one form (avibhaktam) which is indestructible
(avyayam) residing successively in different forms (vibhakteṣu) such as human,
devatā, or animal for the purpose of enjoying various fruits, which are
temporary, through knowledge related to action
(verse 18), is known as sāttvic knowledge.
FALL-VĀDA IN PARAMĀTMA SANDARBHA?
I then wrote another mail to Dr. Satya Nārāyan Dās:
Panditji Rādhe Rādhe
Kuśakrath Dās has made the following fall-vādī translation
of Paramātma Sandarbha, complete with word-for-word and perverted-reflection-vāda
as well. Could you give the correct translation please? The text is here below
-
Anuccheda 29 [at beginning]:
tasmiṁś cānandātmake jñāne pratibimbaṁ yusmad- arthatvam na
bhavati. kintv ātmatvād asmad-arthatvam eva. tac cāsmad-arthatvam aham-bhāva
eva. tato 'ham ity etac chabdābhidheyakāram eva jñānaṁ śuddha ātma prakṛtyāveśo
'nyathā nopapadyate. yata evāveśāt tadīya-sanghata evāham ity aham-bhāvāntaram
prāpnoti. tad etad abhipretya tasyāham-arthatvam āha
tasmin - in this; ca - and; ānandātmake - blissful self; jñāne
- knowledge; pratibimbam - reflection; yusmat - of you; arthatvam - the
purpose; na - not; bhavati - is; kintv - however; ātmatvāt - because of the
self; asmad-arthatvam - for our sake; eva - indeed; tac - that; ca - and;
asmad-arthatvam - for our sake; aham- bhāva - ego; eva - indeed; tataḥ - therefore;
aham - I; iti - thus; etac - this; śabda - word; abhidheyakāram - to be said;
eva - indeed; jñānam - knowledge; śuddha - pure; ātma - soul; prakṛti - matter;
āveśaḥ - entrance; anyathā - otherwise; na - not; upapadyate - is attained;
yata - from which; eva - indeed; āveśāt - from entrance; tadīya - like that;
sanghata - combination; eva - indeed; aham - I; iti - thus; aham-bhāva - false
ego; antaram - after; prāpnoti - attains; tat - this; etat - that; abhipretya -
knowing; tasya - of him; aham- arthatvam - false ego; āha - says.
"When that blissful spiritual consciousness is
pervertedly reflected in material consciousness, the individual soul thinks, I
will not act for your benefit. I will only act for my benefit". In this
way the individual soul comes under the grip of materialistic false-ego. Thus
influenced by false-ego, the pure soul enters the material world. Without this
false-ego it would not be possible for the soul to enter the material world. In
this way the individual soul comes under the grip of false-ego. This is
described in the following words of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam (3.26.6):
evaṁ parābhidhyānena
kartṛtvaṁ prakṛteḥ pumān
karmasu kriyamāneṣu
guṇair ātmani manyate
evam - in this way; para - other; abhidhyānena - by
identification; kartṛtvam - the performance of activities; prakṛteḥ - of the
material nature; pumān - the living entity; karmasu kriyamāneṣu - while the activities
are being performed; guṇaiḥ - by the three modes; ātmani - to himself; manyate
- he considers.
Because of his forgetfulness, the transcendental living
entity accepts the influence of material energy as his field of activities, and
thus actuated, he wrongly applies the activities to himself."
(Note by the blogger:) Here in the word-for-word the word
āveśa has been translated twice as 'entrance' while it means 'absorption'. It
is the word praveśa instead which means entrance, but this is āveśa and not
praveśa. āveśa can mean entrance too, but that is not the intention of Jīva
Goswāmī here.
parābhidhyānena prakṛtyāveśena prakṛtir evāham iti mananena
prakṛter guṇaiḥ kriyamāneṣu karmasu kartṛtvam ātmani manyate. atra
nirahambhāvasya parābhidhyānāsambhavāt parāveśa-jātāhaṅkārasya cāvarakatvād
asty eva tasminn anyo'haṁ-bhāva-viśeṣaḥ. sa ca śuddha-rūpa-mātra-niṣṭhatvān na
saṁsāra-hetur iti spaṣṭam.
parābhidhyānena - arabhidhyānena;prakṛty-aveśena - by entering
the material world; prakṛtiḥ - matter; eva - indeed; aham - I; iti - thus;
mananena - thinking; prakṛteḥ - of matter; guṇaiḥ - by the modes; kriyamāneṣu -
being done; karmasu - ac tions; kartṛtvam - the doer; ātmani - in the self;
manyate - is thought; atra - here; niraham- bhāvasya - freedom from false ego;
parābhidhyāna - by the false identification; asambhavāt - because of being
impossible; parāveśa - entrance; jāta - born; ahaṅkārasya - of false ego; ca -
also; āvarakatvāt - because of covering; asti - is; eva - indeed; tasminn - in
that; anyaḥ - another; aham-bhāva-viśeṣaḥ - false ego; sa - that; ca - also; śuddha-rūpa-mātra-niṣṭhatvān
- because of confidence in the spiritual form; na - not; saṁsāra - of the
material world; hetuḥ - the cause; iti - thus; spaṣṭam - clear.
Here the word parābhidhyānena" means by entering the material world and thinking
`I am made of matter'." In this way the transcendental living entity
accepts the influence of material energy as his field of activities, and thus
actuated, he wrongly applies the activities to himself (prakṛter guṇair
kriyamāneṣu karmasu kartṛtvam ātmani manyate). A person who is free of
false-ego does not think in this way. Only when a person is covered by
materialistic false-ego does he think in this way. A soul who is convinced of
his spiritual identity has no reason to enter the material world. That is
clear.
(Note by the blogger:) Note here that the word 'āveśena'
which means 'by this absorption', has again been mistranslated as 'entering',
which is praveśena, a similar word which is not in the text however. Later the
words para-āveśa are translated again as entrance, while it means absorbed
(āveśa) in something else (para)
Dr. Satya Nārāyan Dās then sent his own translation of
Section 29 -
The jīva is the direct meaning of “I” (This title is given
by me). The jīva is not the intended meaning of the word “You” [in the
statement “You are That”] signifying an individual reflected in the
consciousness that is bliss by nature, but has the meaning of “I,” since it has
the characteristic of being the self. The meaning [of the word] “I” is only
found in the sense of being “I.” Thus consciousness, which is the primary
meaning of the word “I,” is the pure atma; otherwise absorption in matter is
not possible. Because of this absorption, the jiva acquires an alternative
feeling of “I” identified with the aggregate of the elements [i.e., the body].
It is with this intention that Śrī Kapiladeva speaks about the soul’s being the
meaning of “I”:
evaṁ parābhidhyānena
kartṛtvaṁ prakṛteḥ pumān
karmasu kriyamāneṣu
guṇair ātmani manyate
By identifying with something that is different [the mind-body
complex] from himself (parābhidhyānena),
the soul attributes to himself the doership of actions that are being performed
by the guṇas of nature. (3.26.6)
Parābhidhyānena means “by identifying with the material
nature (prakṛti),” i.e., thinking “I am nothing other than prakṛti,” one
considers himself to be the agent of works performed by the guṇas of prakṛti.
Because one who does not have a sense of “I” cannot identify with something
different from himself, and because the ahaṅkāra or ego born of identifying
with the other [prakṛti] is a covering [over that original sense of self],
there is certainly another distinct sense of self in the soul. And because that
sense of self is grounded exclusively in its pure identity, it is clearly not
the cause of its material bondage. These very two kinds of ahankāra are shown
in the following verse [from the Eleventh Canto]: "The Atma remains
unaffected in the state of deep sleep when the senses are contracted and the
ego has become dormant. Its continuity [through the stages of sleep] is proven
by the fact that [on awakening] we remember [the enjoyment of a sound sleep].
(11.3.39) Because the ahaṅkāra related to the body is inactive in deep sleep,
later on one deliberates only on the basis of the ahaṅkāra of the self in
statements such as “we remember” and “I slept happily.” Therefore in the notion
[conveyed by the statement] “I did not know myself” there is a lack of
knowledge of the ahaṅkāra related to the body. But the other ahaṅkāra [in
relation to ātma] is understood to be the witness of the ignorance [of the
material ahaṅkāra].
Commentary:
In this section Śrī Jīva establishes that pure soul has “I”
consciousness as its very nature. There is “I” consciousness in relation to the
physical body because of which we make statements such as “I am weak,” “I am
slim,” or “I am tall.” In these sentences “I” refers to the physical body. We
also make statements such as “I am happy,” “I am angry,” etc. “I” in these
sentences refers to the mind. Beyond this material “I” there is a real “I”
within the soul. The Advaita-vādis do not accept “I” consciousness in the soul.
According to them the “I” is manifest only when Brahman is limited by ajñāna
and is called jīva. When ajñāna is removed by the practice of jñāna then the jīva
is Brahman, which has no “I” consciousness. They propose that Brahman is pure,
uniform consciousness and bliss and when it reflects in ajñāna it is called
jīva; this jīva is the meaning of the word “You” in the famous statement, “You
are That” (tat tvam asi). In this statement “That” (tat) refers to Brahman and
“You” (tvam) to the jīva. By this they try to deny the meaning “I” to the pure
jīva because, according to them, the pure jīva is the same as Brahman, which is
devoid of I-consciousness. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī refutes this by saying that the jīva
has a real ‘I’ and is not same as Brahman being conditioned by ajñāna. Thus it
cannot be the object of “You” referring to each individual jiva in the famous
tat tvam asi mahā-vākya. He refers to the verse of Bhāgavata Purāṇa (11.3.39)
which says that during deep sleep one is not aware of either the subtle or
gross bodies. That means that the material “I” is dysfunctional, dissolved.
Deep sleep is not possible without getting disconnected from the material “I.”
In the wakeful state, one is aware of gross body, senses and the internal
senses, which include the material “I.” In the dream state, one is not aware of
the gross body and senses, but only of the internal senses. In deep sleep one
is not aware of anything. Nevertheless, on awaking a person remembers the happy
experience of sleep. This happy experience of sleep in which one was not aware
of anything would not be possible if there were no “I” in that state. There can
be no experience without a sense of ‘I’, the experiencer. Only a person who
experiences can have a recollection of the experience. Since one remembers,
then it logically follows that there must be an experiencer. Therefore, there
must be a real “I” besides the material “I.” On awakening, the material “I” is superimposed
onto the real one. In the statement, “I slept well and did not know anything,”
there are two parts. One is the knowledge of sleeping well and the other is
ignorance of everything else.
This is part of the commentary.
There is no talk of falling from Vaikuṇṭha. Śrī Jīva Gosvāmī
is discussing the characteristics of ātma on the basis of description given in
Padma Purāṇa and Jamar Muni which he quotes earlier. He is refuting the concept
of Advaita-vāda."
